Area residents checking their mailboxes were disappointed Wednesday and Thursday, after the United States Postal Service called in a cold day and suspended mail delivery to much of the Midwest, including Huntington County.

Mail trucks at the Huntington Post Office branch did not go out on their rounds, after the sub-zero cold temperatures – which reached as low as 18 degrees below zero Wednesday at mid-morning – prompted the USPS to keep their carriers indoors.

The front counter remained open, however, and employees still worked sorting mail in the back room, preparing for hopefully better conditions later in the week.

On Wednesday, the USPS website stated that weather forecasters were predicting wind chill readings of -60 degrees in some places, making for dangerously cold conditions for delivering mail.

“Due to this arctic outbreak and concerns for the safety of USPS employees, the Postal Service is suspending delivery Jan. 30,” the website stated, and repeated the announcement on Jan. 31.

States from Ohio west to the Dakotas were affected by the shutdown. In Indiana, Zip codes included in the suspension were 460-469, 472-475, 478 and 479.

However, the status of the service disruption on future dates past Thursday was not addressed.